A Birthday to Remember
by OTHjunkie-7
Summary: It's Peyton's 18th birthday and Brooke has something exciting in store. But what happens when one of Brooke's gifts turns out to be a blind date?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Peyton, sweetie, you have to get up or you'll be late for breakfast!" My mom yells as she walks through my bedroom and to my bed. Suddenly, she rips my red and dark blue blanket off my freezing body and runs away laughing.

"Mom! No!" I excitedly scream as I jump up, feeling an immediate shiver through my body.

I take off after my mom, slowing down when I see her sitting at the dining room table. I look around to find my blanket draped over the living room loveseat. I grab it and cover my shivering body. I give my mom the fake annoyed look and start to walk away but is stopped by my dad coming through the kitchen. He is still in his pajamas and is carrying a huge plate of blueberry pancakes. Wait a second! Blueberry pancakes; am I forgetting something? Blueberry pancakes are for special occasions in the Sawyer household.

I glance at my dad excited, but still slightly confused. He looks at me and gives me his 'million dollar smile'.

"You forgot again, didn't you!" my dad says, slightly disappointed. This is what I hate about my dad, you can never tell if he's joking around or not.

"Forgot about what, dad?" I reply. Now my right foot is out and I am only using its heel to stand on. That's what I do when I'm nervous.

"I can't believe she forgot about it again!" mom says.

"I guess we should remind her. On the count to three; one, two…three"

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" mom and dad yell. I look at them like they're crazy and then start laughing.

"Oh my gosh, I totally blanked! I can't believe you guys, let alone Brooke let me forgot such an 'important' day!" I say, half-sarcastically and half-joyously.

"It's okay sweetie. I know there's been a lot on your mind lately. So enjoy the pancakes, and then; it's presents time!" my dad says then throws one arm up in the air victoriously.

My parents and I sit down and eat our pancakes, laughing and enjoying each others company. Then my mom gets up and walks to the master bedroom. She walks back carrying a humungous bag of presents. My eyes widen in disbelief.

"Mom, dad, you didn't have to get me all this" I say, still awestruck.

"We know, dear. But this may be your last birthday you'll spend here in a while" my mother says, and I can see her eyes begin to water.

"Well, thank you guys." I reply and start to open my presents. I end up with tons of things; a hair dryer, a sketchbook, a new watch, a sketching pencil kit, 3 new records (the Police! Thank you God, for making such an amazing band!) and the last thing is a paint and pastels kit. By the time I am done, I am practically speechless. I walk over to my parents and give them a great big bear hug.

As we are finishing up coffee and breakfast the doorbell and then it opens.

"P. Sawyer, are you in here" I hear as a bubbly and beautiful Brooke Davis walks through the kitchen. She stops when she sees me and a big smile erupts on her face

"Peyton, oh my gosh! Happy Birthday!" she yells as she runs to me and envelopes me in a hug.

"Thanks, so where's my present, B. Davis?" I ask joking, but secretly serious.

"Wow, jump right to the point why don't you! Don't worry it will be here soon. Right now, you have to get ready so we cant go and do totally awesome things! Hurry!" Brooke says before sitting down and chatting with my parents. I run upstairs, trying to figure out what I should dress for. With Brooke Davis, you just never know. I decide on a black Counting Crows concert tee and a jean mini skirt. I then bolt downstairs to go and see what Brooke has in store for me.

Brooke gets up as she sees me come down the stairs and she runs to me.

"Bye, Mr. and Mrs. Sawyer. Don't worry, we won't do anything illegal. At least I don't think that's illegal" She says as she thinks intently about our plans. My parents' eyes widen at this and they just smile and shake their heads.

"Don't worry mom and dad. I'll keep Brooke in line. See you guys tonight. Love you." I say and then walk out the door. I turn to Brook as we get into her green beetle.

"So B. Davis, what exactly are we going to do today?" I ask curiously.

"Oh, P.Sawyer, you have no idea!" she says, as we drive away, both expecting to have the best day of our lives. The only difference; she knows what's going on!


	2. The Relaxing Part of the Day

Chapter 2

The Relaxing Part of the Day

"So now that we're getting close to our destination, do you mind puuting this on?" Brooke says as she hands me a hot pink scarf.

"Brooke, you gotta be kidding me!" I sigh as I look at her pleadingly.

"P. Sawyer, am I ever known to joke around when it comes to birthday surprises, or any surprises for that reason?" Brooke replies and nods towards the blindfold, telling me to put it on. I roll my eyes and put the blindfold over my head. I tie it around my head, and adjust it to make it comfortable.

"Brooke, I just wanted to say that you're killing me right now!" I say as I'm engulfed in complete darkness.

"I know! It's so fun!" Brooke says. We drive for about ten more minutes and then the car comes to a stop. Brooke gets out of the car and runs to my door. She opens it and grabs my hand. I try to pry off my blindfold, but Brooke playfully slaps my hand down.

"P. Sawyer, I am appalled! You were just trying to take a sneak peek! But that's okay, because this is partly for me too!" Brooke says. She takes her hand off of mine and claps hers together. I can tell she's jumping and I grab her shoulders.

"Brooke, stop it okay. I want to go inside this place and have the time of my life with my bestest best friend ever!" I say. Brooke gives a little shriek and links arms with mine. She leads me into the building we were standing in front of. The building smells like vanilla and honeysuckle. Brooke comes up behind me and talks the blindfold off. I blink to try and get the fuzziness off my eyes. Then I look around at the beautiful room we are in. It is a dark room filled with candles and incense. In the middle there are two massage tables and a table covered in different things in between them. I look at this and laugh.

"Brooke this is amazing!" I yell and give her a quick hug. Then I run to the table and look at the different things there. There is so many products like shampoos, perfumes, lotions, shave gel, bath crystals, and so much more.

"Peyton, that isn't just the surprise. These massage tables aren't here for us to sit on. And there aren't professional masseuses coming in either;" I look at her surprised.

"What are you talking about?" I ask suddenly interested in what she is saying. I take my eyes off the table and glue them on her.

"Well some of our friends agreed to give us massages today. I hope you like who I picked out for you" Brooke says as she opens the door "please welcome my masseuse for the day, Mr. Lucas Scott!" Lucas glides out wearing a bath robe and holding a bottle of massage oil.

"I'm ready to do my civil duty for the world" Lucas says with his hand in the 'boy scout pledge'.

"Haha, you must be very upset but I'm sure you'll be okay!" I say "now Brooke, who's my masseuse?"

"Well P. Sawyer, sice you don't have a boy toy of your own I got you our most gracious and trustworthy friend. Here he is" Brooke opens the door and Mouth comes out wearing a pair of boxer shorts with hearts on them. I can't help it. I start giggling and I can't stop.

"Mouth, haha, you look so cute, haha, thank you for this" I say as I go and give him a great big hug.

"It's no problem birthday girl!" he says "shall we start the massage?"

"Oh ya!" I say. Brooke and I go unchanged and just put on a dark blue towel each. We come out and lie on the massage tables. As Mouth is massaging, I feel so free from all these thoughts and fears that have been going through my mind. I don't think about the past, or the future, just the now. And that's an amazing feeling.

"Hey Mouth, you're pretty good at this" I say. Mouth chuckles lightly.

"Thanks, you know I try." He replies.

"So B. Davis, what are we doing after this?" I ask.

"Well we're going shopping for some much needed essentials for the rest of the day and then, who knows?" Brooke replies.

"Essentials?" I ask, kind of frightened by the thought of what that could be. With Brooke you never really know what she's talking about.

"You'll see, just enjoy the moment and stop thinking so much!" Brooke says, with both a serious and a joking tone.

"Fine" I say slightly putting. Then I just concentrate on nothing. I let my worried slip away as I live in the moment.

Spoilers

shopping at a unique store!

Peytons surprise date!


	3. THe Final Surprise is Revealed!

Chapter 3- The Final Surprise is Revealed!

After the massage, Brooke, Lucas, Mouth and I all jump into the car. I don't know why the guys are coming with us, but I don't mind because they are my best friends.

"So Brooke, should I be wearing the blindfold now as well, or is it okay if I don't" I ask, as I slouch in my seat.

"I think you should put in on again, P. Sawyer, and I'm not moving until you do." Brooke says as she takes her hands off the steering wheel and looks at me with a huge grin on her face. After about a two minute staring contest between me and her, I let out a groan and give in. I take the blindfold out of my purse and put it over my eyes like I did a little while before. Brooke lets out a shriek and then we're on our way.

We drive for about half an hour while we talk and laugh and reminisce about when we were kids. The four of us were friends since the beginning of kindergarten. Brooke and I were friends first, and Lucas and Mouth were friends first. Brooke decided that she wanted to have two 'boyfriends' (friends that are boys not the relationship one) and she thought that they were the best bet. We've been close ever since.

Lucas has no siblings and he lives with his mom. His dad died in a car accident a year ago. They own a café, that's become a very popular hangout spot for us. His mom, Karen, also co-owns the best club in Tree Hill, Tric, with none other then me. Lucas is known as the broody one in our group.

Mouth is the silent, shy, but understanding one in our group. He lives with his parents and has a twin sister, but she goes to a boarding school in Charleston. Mouth is a smart kid, who always cares for others more then himself.

Then there was Brooke. She is the cheery one in our group. She's always up for anything, and she is the girl you turn to if you're sad and alone. She is a shopaholic and she loves doing things for people. Brooke lives on her own, ever since her parents moved away. She only lives about two blocks from me, so I'm pretty happy about that.

Now my role in the group is the troubled artist. I love to paint and I love music. Mouth is an amazing sketcher, so we have art in common, and Lucas loves the same music I do. So we're all connected and it's like we were meant to be friends.

So that's what I was thinking about as were drove to our next destination. We finally get there, and Brooke leads me to the door. It slides open and we step in. Then Brooke pulls off my blindfold.

"This is our final destination!" Brooke says, as she smiles from ear to ear. I recognize this place immediately. It's called 'Sex Kitten Fashions!'. It's the top lingerie store in America. I stand there wide-eyed and then I narrow my eyes at Brooke. She looks at me and shrugs.

"What, I thought you could get something sexy to wear in case you have a hot date in the future" Brooke replies innocently. I look over at Mouth and Lucas. They look at me innocently and try to control themselves from laughing.

"So let's go shopping!" Brooke says excitedly, as she pulls me further into the store.

About two hours, 50 corsets and 20 bra and panties sets late, and I finally decide on an outfit. I choose a super tight dark green silk corset with matching silk panties and those leggings that clip onto the panties. I look at my finished product and laugh. I look so funny, but I also say, I look pretty good too. Of course Brooke buys something, but she says that the only person that can see it would be Lucas.

After the shopping spree we go get some pizza and then drop off Mouth and Lucas. I thank them for the day and then Brooke and I go to her house.

"So Brooke, what are we doing now?" I question as I plop down onto her couch.

"We are getting ready to go out for a night on the town!" Brooke replies and then takes me to her room.

"SO Peyton, what do you want to wear tonight?" she asks pretending to be interested in my opinion even though we both know that she will just pick what she wants.

"It would help if I knew where I was going or what I was doing" I say.

"Fine, but you have to promise that you won't be mad at me?" she asks. I nod at her and she keeps going. "Well tonight I found you something fun to do. You, my very bestest best friend are going on a blind date with one of my other's friend's friend!" she starts giggling.

I only the other hand, just look at her in complete shock.

Dun dun dun!

I bet you guys think you know who it is. But you'll never know until you review! So please review, I would greatly appreciate it.

This is my first fan fiction and I would love some feedback on how it is!

Thanks,

Pauline 


	4. The Mystery Man Unveiled part1

**Chapter 4- The Mystery Man Unveiled!**

"Hello, earth to Peyton, hello?" Brooke says waving her hand in front of my face. I finally blink out of my shock and my face turns from confusion to pure anger.

"You did what!" I yell, and then I start pacing around the room, with my left hand on my forehead.

"Hey, you said you wouldn't be angry at me." Brooke replies giving me her famous 'sad face'.

"Yeah, that was before you told me that I had a blind date!" I shoot back at her avoiding her gaze.

"Fine, it's okay that you're upset, I completely understand. But you know what, I thought it would be okay since you haven't been on a date since Matt," I begin to protest but then she holds up her pointer finger, to tell me that she's not done. "Don't try to deny it P. Sawyer, it's true. And I thought it would be okay if you met somebody new and began to put yourself out there again. So I hope you're not mad at me and that you can do this one little thing for me?" Brooke says, finishing and then taking a deep breath.

"I'm not pissed off at you, it's just not what I expected, that's all." I sigh and roll my eyes. "Okay, so where is this 'date' tonight" I ask giving in.

Brooke's eyes immediately light up and she starts jumping, "oh my gosh Peyton, this is going to be AWESOME! Okay, so it's at Tric and your date is at 7:30pm which gives us about," she glances at her watch, "an hour and a half to get ready". I look at my watch and it reads 6:30pm.

"I thought the date started at 7:30, so how do we have an hour and a half to get ready?" I ask her confused.

"Duh, because girls are always fashionably late for dates. That makes the guys think that we put in the extra effort to get ready" She replies as if it's the most obvious thing in the world.

I throw my hands up in the air. "Of course, I should've known. So Brooke, do some of your magic to make the most amazing girl in the whole club!" I say.

"Besides me of course!" Brooke replies and then pulls me into my closet.

After an hour of making me try on clothes, curling my hair and applying makeup, Brooke finally thinks that I am done. I am wearing a blue denim mini skirt and a dark red halter top. My hair is curled (as usual) and one side is pinned back lightly. My black converse shoes and black corduroy purse finish the look.

"Peyton, you look so HOT!" Brooke laughs as she looks me over and then puts a strand of hair back in place.

"Thank you, now let's go get this date over with." I reply, smiling because I know I look good, and I also know that Brooke is as excited about this as I am when it comes to buying a new album.

Brooke and I hop into her car and drive to Tric singing along with the radio. We drive for about 15 minutes and then stop in the club parking lot. I climb out the car and straighten my clothes. I take a compact mirror out of my purse and look at myself in the mirror. Brooke comes around to my side of the car and starts giggling. I look at her, expecting an explanation as to the sudden outburst.

"You're really nervous, aren't you" she asks me.

"I'm not nervous; it's just that, I don't know, I don't really want to get hurt anymore, you know." I say, and then look down uncomfortably at my shoes.

"Okay, Peyton, I swear that this guy isn't going to be like Matt. And I'm glad that I did this because it gives you a chance to find out that not every guy is like him." She replies by smiling and rubbing my back softly. I smile back and begin walking towards the club. As I walk up the stairs the butterflies in my stomach seem to get a lot bigger. I put my hand on the doorknob and turn the handle. As soon as I open the door I hear one word magnified in volume by about 100 times;

"SURPRISE!" I am immediately engulfed by my friends surrounding me and congratulating me. I turn to Brooke and laugh. She shrugs back and smile.

"SO there was more then just one surprise tonight." She says innocently. I laugh some more and pull her into a great big bear hug.

I make my rounds saying thanks to everyone I can for being there. Then I walk to the bar and sit next in between Brooke and Mouth.

"SO Brooke where is my blind date. I am so excited to meet him!" I say sarcastically, and I hear Mouth and Lucas laughing behind and beside me.

"Actually, he should be here at the bar, so let's go find him!" she replies, then links her arm with mine. We walk around the whole bar area with Brooke asking if any of the guys were Peyton's blind date. Unfortunately, all of the guys say no. We walk back to our original bar stools and sit down, defeated. Brooke looks at me.

"I'm sorry P. Sawyer, I thought this was a good idea. I guess it wasn't." Brooke says while looking at me sadly.

"It's okay, don't worry about it. Listen I had fun really, but I think I'm going to go home now." I say, with a little bit of fatigue in my voice. Mouth comes up to me and taps me on the shoulder.

"Hey, Peyton, do you need a ride, cause I'm basically done here as well." He asks.

"Sure, thanks Mouth." I turn to Brooke and Lucas. "Thanks for everything guys, and don't worry about it Brooke." I give each of them a hug and walk with Mouth into the crowd, towards the door.

When we get outside, we begin descending the stairs. Suddenly a guy comes out of his car and starts running towards the stairs. He's talking on his cell phone, and Mouth and I can just make out what he is saying.

"I can't believe you're doing this man…Yeah, but she could be really hurt…Of course I'm not going to the club to find out who she is…So what does she look like again?" he asks the phone as he starts walking up the stairs, concentrating on the information being given to him. "Okay, and what's her name…Okay, see you man." And with that he hangs up his phone.

As he walks past us, he smiles politely at us and keeps going. Then all of a sudden he turns around and looks right at me. I look at him nervously. Wow, he is really hot! I think as I keep looking into his deep and meaningful eyes. His dark brown hair is messy and looks like he hasn't run a comb through it in a while. He has on a pair of jeans and a long sleeve dark green shirt on.

"Excuse me miss, are you by any chance Peyton?" he asks, looking slightly nervous. Wow, she's beautiful, he thinks as he looks at her, waiting for an answer.

"Ya, why?" I reply.

"Well, a friend of mine was supposed to go on a blind date with you, but at the last minute he bailed. I didn't want to feel like you were just totally blown off so I came to tell you." The man answered.

"Oh, well thank you for telling me. I knew this wasn't a good idea when Brooke told me about it. I'm going to take off though. Tell your friend that it's okay, and that I completely understand." I say back and then continue walking with Mouth at my side. I can feel his eyes on me as I continue walking. Then I hear him running down the stairs after me.

"Wait!" he yells, and I turn around to see what he wants. He looks at me and smiles.

"Since I'm here, I was wondering if you wanted somebody to replace my friend for the date tonight?" he asks ands gives a pleading smile to me.

I look at him and smile. "Now where would I get somebody to do that?" I ask and then put my finger up to my lips and taps on them, pretending to think.

"Would it be okay if I was you date tonight, Peyton?" he asks, smiling and nervous at the same time.

"I guess so, just so long as you don't try anything with me, okay?" I say half-joking and half-serious.

"I promise, but there is a condition for me too. I kinda didn't tell my friend that I was coming here, so let's not let him know, I'm here okay?" he asks and then laughs quietly. I nod at him and then puts his hand out for me to take. I look at him and then I turn to Mouth. He smiles and nods.

"I'm definitely not leaving now!" Mouth says, and then runs back into the club. I laugh out loud and then place my hand in the guy's. We walk into the club and I look to where Brooke and Lucas were when I left. They, along with Mouth are watching me and this mystery guy as we walk towards them. I stop him right before we get to our friends.

"It's totally unfair that you my name and I don't know yours. So what's you name anyways?" I ask looking him right in the eyes. He snaps his fingers together in mock defeat.

"Oh, darn, I guess you caught me. Okay, my name is…………………………"

**Haha, I know, I'm evil! SO I haven't decided who it should be just yet, but obviously Mouth and Lucas are out of the question. Let me know who you think it should be!**

**Review please, I really enjoy getting them, even if I only have a few!**

**Sorry about the wait for the chapter, I've been really busy with work, etc.**

**Anyways, peace out!**

**Pauline **


	5. Myster Man Good or Bad?

Chapter 5- Mystery Man- Good or Bad?

"_It's totally unfair that you my name and I don't know yours. So what's you name anyways?" I ask looking him right in the eyes. He snaps his fingers together in mock defeat._

_"Oh, darn, I guess you caught me. Okay, my name is…………………………"_

"Jake Jagielski. Nice to meet you." He says as he pulls out his hand for me to shake.

"Nice to me you J.J. I'm Peyton Sawyer. Hope you don't mind if I call you J.J." I say as I gracefully shake his hand. When I try to move my hand back, he doesn't let go. I look up to see him looking at me with a look in his eyes, almost like he's looking into my soul. "Umm, Jake?" I ask as I look at him. He blinks and looks down at our hands. He quickly lets go and puts his hands in his pockets.

"Sorry" he says shyly. I smile and look at him gently.

"It's okay. Just don't try to steal my hand again" I reply as I playfully slap his arm. He looks up and smirks. We both look at each other and smile.

We continue walking up to my friends and I introduce them to Jake. They all shake hands and we start talking about the latest sports happenings. Suddenly my favorite song "Amazed" by Lonestar comes on. Brooke looks at me and smiles.

"Hey Jake, did you that this is Peyton's favorite song? I think this would be the perfect opportunity to ask her to dance!" she says, then grabs Lucas and pulls him onto the dance floor. Jakes looks up at me, and we both start laughing.

"So I take it she's not that subtle about things? Anyways, I guess I wouldn't want to disappoint her. Would you like to dance?" he asks sincerely, placing his hand out for me to take.

"We don't have to, if you don't want to." I reply, looking at him, praying that he'll say yes and dance with me.

"But I want to" he answers and takes my hand in his. We walk onto the dance floor and I place my hands around his neck, while his find their way to my waist. We start dancing to the song, and I start mouthing the words. Jake looks at me and smiles.

"You know this is one of my favorite songs too." He says smiling at me.

"Really, what other bands do you listen to?" I ask, suddenly interested. I mean, we are talking about my favorite subject!

"I don't know, I listen to a lot of Dashboard Confessionals, Counting Crows and The Police." He replies simply. I just look at him stunned. "What are those the wrong answers?"

"No, are you kidding, those are classics! I love them. What's your favorite Police album?"

"I don't have a favorite Police album. But I love The Soul Cages, by Sting."

"That's an awesome album!" I look at him and we smile ate each other before I put my head gently on his chest. I can tell he works out, or plays some kind of sport because he's buff! He then rests his shin on my head.

The song ends, but another slow song comes on, so we keep dancing like that. Even if a slow song didn't come on, we probably would have stayed that way anyways. It's like one of those moments you get once in a blue moon. Like you're safe and nothing can touch you. That's what I'm feeling as I'm dancing with Jake. Then reality strikes back in the form of me getting hit in the butt with what feels like a foot. I turn around to see Brooke and Lucas giggling. I give them both a dirty look.

"What are you doing?" I ask annoyed that they ruined Jake and my moment.

"Nothing, you guys seemed so close, so I thought I'd break it up. Plus, it's about the time for us to do this!" Brooke yells as she and Lucas pull out water guns. I look around for a place to hide and see that almost everybody has a water gun to shoot me with. I scream and try to run but Jake catches me. He holds onto me as I try to squirm out of his grip, but it's too late, and Jake is too strong for me to run away from. Everybody starts spraying me with water, and I can feel the cold water all over me. The funny thing is that Jake probably didn't think that he would get sprayed, but he ended up getting wet anyways. I get out of Jake's grasp and run. The crowd doesn't even notice that I'm gone, because they continue spraying each other. I keep running and decide on hiding behind the bar. I crawl behind the counter and laugh. Then all the water guns stop. I hear Brooke start to yell.

"Peyton, where are you? We're gonna find you eventually!" she says as I hear her heels walking towards and then away from where I am hiding. Suddenly the bartender, Jason, comes out of the bathroom, and comes towards the counter. He spots me and looks at me curiously. I mouth the words "shh, I'm not here!" and I give him my puppy eyes "shh, please!" He looks at me quickly and nods. Then he looks in the direction that I heard Brooke go.

"Hey, Brooke, she's over here!" Jason yells and points towards me. I shriek and run, but this time Lucas grabs me. I try to get out of his grip. Jake then grabs my legs and now I'm not touching the ground. I scream as they carry me over to a kiddy pool that they obviously brought out while I was in hiding.

"Oh no, Lucas, come on! You're not going to do this! Jake please don't! I'll never speak to you guys again if you dump me in that!" I yell as they bring me closer and closer to the tiny pool. When we reach the pool, Jake and Lucas nod at each other, and drop me in the water. It's just deep enough that I wouldn't get hurt as they throw me in. I laugh and shake my hands. Everybody is looking at me as I sit in the pool, having a giggle-fit (you know when you laugh and you can't stop!) I look at Jake, just as he turns around to talk to someone behind him. I smirk and come up with a plan.

I carefully move to the side of the kiddy pool, stand up and then I jump on his back. He jumps and I get off his back. Then I take him by the shoulders and I push him into the water. He falls, but his head doesn't go under the water. He looks at me as I start to giggle at him. I push him down again and we start attempting to dunk each other, but fail because the water is too shallow. I push him down and put my legs on either side of his waist. I pin his arms down and smirk.

"Who's got who now!" I say. I look down at his face to find that he is looking at me as well. We immediately have one of those magnetic connections where you feel your body being towards the others. I slowly move my head towards him. I stop when my face is about 5 inches from his. I smile, and he smiles back. Just as I'm about to place my lips onto his, the mic screeches from feedback. We look around to find Brooke on the stage.

She looks at me and smiles. "Hey P. Sawyer. You know that you're totally awesome, right? Well you are! I know some of the events that happened tonight weren't really what was expected, but that's all a big part of life, right? So I just wanted to say that I love you and that I hope you had an awesome 17th birthday, and that no matter what, you'll always be my bestest best friend ever! Hoes over bros, always!" She finishes her speech and I can feel my eyes start to water. A single tear rolls down my cheek. I carefully get off of Jake, run over to Brooke and envelope her in a big hug. We hug for a good two minutes and then we let go.

"Brooke that was beautiful. Thank you so much. This has been my best birthday party ever!" I say and then hold my fist for her to pound. She obliges then we smile.

"Hey Peyton, only the best for my super dooper friend!" she replies and then brings me into another hug. "Oh hey, I forgot, I have another present for you; don't worry it's not another blind date," she glances over at Jake, "but I can tell that that's going to work out!" she goes into her purse and pulls out a little red box with a pink ribbon tied around it. I open the box to find a gorgeous silver ring. It has a diamond heart on the top of it to add to the design. I look at the ring in complete awe, and find that there is a message engraved in on the inside of the ring. It says "Brooke + Peyton BFF! Happy 17th!" I look at her as more tears fall down my cheeks.

"Brooke this is beautiful thank you!" I place the ring on my middle finger, and it fits perfectly. Brooke holds up her left hand to reveal an identical ring to mine.

"I got one too, so now it's like you're my bitch!" she says, while laughing. I start laughing along with her, and then we hug yet again.

"Thank you Brooke! Really!" I say and then turn to the crowd of people and take the mic out of Brooke's hands, "and thank you all for coming to this party. This has been the best party ever!" Brooke and I then get off the stage as everyone starts clapping, and we walk to where our friends and Jake are.

We talk about random things for about 2 hours. Everybody at the party says good bye to me and happy birthday, before leaving. When the last group of kids leaves we decide that we should head out too. As we walk out the door, I lock up and make sure that everything is all right.

"So Peyton, so you want a ride home with us, or what are you doing?" Brooke asks.

"Umm," I turn to Jake, "do you want to give me a ride home?" I say.

"Sure, that wouldn't be a problem at all" he replies smiling.

"Okay, Umm, Brooke, Jake's going to give me a ride home, okay?" I answer as I walk up to her.

"Yep, no problem. I guess I'll see you tomorrow." She leans in to whisper to me, "be careful and call me tomorrow with all of the deets!"

"I will. See you guys later." With that I walk with Jake towards his car, basically draining all my energy as I get there. Then I plop down into the passenger seat of his car and smile happily.

I'm finally ready to let go of my past, and hang on to the future.

**That's it for Chapter 5. It was a close call between Nathan and Jake. If you didn't like that it was Jake, then you should've reviewed, lol. **

**Anyways, sorry it took me so long to update. I've been kinda busy, you know with school starting. But I'll try to update more often.**

**Up Next: The ride home, first date- or not, do peyton's friends really approve of **

** Jake?**

**Thanks for reading and reviewing!**

**Pauline **


	6. Authors Note

**Authors Note**

**In my story I wrote that on PEytons ring it said Happy 17th. Peyton is really turning 18 not 17. Oops! Sorry guys! Anyways, I hope you're enjoying the story! Read and Review!**


End file.
